Many of the individuals responsible for engaging young people in discussions regarding sexual health have a wealth of knowledge on the topic. However, they may often feel inadequately equipped with the language and the manner in which they should approach such conversations. To improve upon this, we facilitate workshops and seminars on the delivery of sexual health education to young people, and appropriate language, manner and approach in this context.
We currently offer workshops on a range of topics, including:
- communication and sexual relationships
- consent in sexual relationships: a medico-legal perspective
- sexual health and safety
We can offer training for corporate entities, health professionals, health students, community health services, schools, and a number of other areas. We are experienced in running workshops for doctors and medical students in this regard.
We are based in Melbourne, but are prepared to travel. If you are interested in any of the services we offer, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or if you are interested in arranging a workshop.
Language
Often health professionals are not familiar with colloquial language describing sexual acts, practices, sexuality and gender identity. Furthermore, specific words like ‘prostitute’, often have very loaded connotations, and have the potential to immediately get the respective individual off-side.
The Youth of Today
It is very difficult to remain in the know regarding modern common sexual practice. Youth culture is notoriously quick to evolve and the culture surrounding sexual relationships often appears as though it changes the most rapidly. Nonetheless, it is important to be aware of these trends and the potential health consequences inherent in them (an example of this could be the increased prevalence of folliculitis secondary to the increasing prevalence of genital hair removal…).
What is ‘normal’?
It is very easy to draw on your own experiences and your own perceptions of what is ‘normal’. However, this really isn’t an ideal approach as everyone’s experience of sex and sexuality differs significantly. This is why The Nookie Project instead moves the focus from ideas about what is ‘normal’ to evidence about what is ‘safer practices’. It is important to take a harm-minimisation approach that is sex-positive and non-judgemental. The best way to do this is to leave all of your judgements at the door.
This can be very difficult terrain to traverse – but this is what we specialise in.